YEP Says: One way to make Leeds United owner’s son see error of his ways

Yes he was provoked. Yes, the Twittersphere can be cruel, menacing and unkind. And yes, the instinctive reaction of some might well be to respond equally brutally; to fight fire with fire.

Instinctive, yes. Appropriate, no.

Especially if you’re a company director; and a director, at that, of one of the most famous football clubs in the world.

Young Edoardo Cellino, 24, who has been a member of Leeds United’s board since his father bought the club in April 2014, has been charged by the Football Association over offensive social media comments in which he called a Leeds fan a “spastic” (amongst other things).

Quite why he felt this word was an appropriate word to use is beyond us. It is offensive beyond belief and nothing, nothing excuses it.

His defence: “I did not fully understand the severity of the words used as English is not my first language. I can only apologise” is paltry indeed.

That the Cellino family hail from Sardinia offers no excuse – or justification – for using disparaging terms that belong to a bygone age.

They have been at the helm of Elland Road long enough to realise that the owners of such clubs have a moral duty to set a good example. If Cellino junior can’t abide by this, he isn’t fit to hold the position.

As for a punishment, let the FA do their worst by all means.

But also put him in front of any parent with a disabled child and they’ll tell him what’s what. He’ll be all the humbled for it.

Leeds United investment: The seven other English football teams that have American franchise associations